Support in marriage: Factors associated with on-line perceptions of support helpfulness.

Despite considerable research that has demonstrated the positive aspects of social support, little is known about the mechanisms that influence the experience of feeling supported. This study examined the association between proximal (e.g., support content) and distal (e.g., marital satisfaction) factors and the experience of feeling supported by one's partner. Sixty-one married couples participated in an interactive support exercise using a talk-table. Coders were asked to provide on-line ratings of perceived support helpfulness. The supportive interaction was coded using the Social Support Behavior Code. Women were more influenced by immediate aspects of the supportive interaction, and men were more influenced by distal relationship factors. Esteem support was associated with higher ratings of support helpfulness. Gender may moderate the impact of proximal and distal factors on feeling supported during a couple's interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences affecting interviewee expectancies and perceptions of self-disclosure.

40 college students who differed on defensiveness and anxiety (as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and Shimkunas's Uncertainty Anxiety Scale) predicted, and in a later experimental interview evaluated, their verbal exploration and subjective comfort following a role-induction exercise. Behavioral measures also included content ratings, speech duration, silence quotient, and reaction time. Low-defensive, low-anxious Ss were most successful in their overall participation, whereas low-defensive, high-anxious Ss comprehended role requirements but were restrained in their approach. High-defensive, low-anxious Ss failed to acquire an accurate impression of their role behavior. Contrary to expectation, high-defensive, high-anxious Ss were motivated to comply with situational demands and were not most avoidant. Alternative role-training procedures are discussed in relation to individual differences. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of helpfulness in conjoint behavioral consultation: Congruence and agreement between teachers and parents.

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) can be considered a help-giving model, wherein consultants work with parents and teachers in an effort to develop constructive partnerships aimed at addressing needs of students for whom both parties share responsibility. The development of strong relationships among systems in a child's life is related to positive outcomes for children, and congruence among systems is one relationship variable that has received previous research attention. This study examined the degree to which parent and teacher perceptions of the helpfulness of the CBC consultant are congruent, and its relationship with various case outcomes. Correlational analyses suggest that parents' and teachers' perspectives of the helpfulness of the consultant are not necessarily related to each other, and as differences increase, perceptions of outcomes decrease for both parties. Research implications, limitations, and future directions are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of race and consultant verbal behavior on perceptions of consultant competence and multicultural sensitivity.

Sought to determine the influence of race and consultant verbal behavior on perceptions of consultants' competence and multicultural sensitivity. In this analog study, 154 female preservice teachers viewed a videotape of a problem definition interview in which the race of the consultee (African American or Caucasian), race of the consultant (African American or Caucasian), and verbal behavior of the consultant (race-sensitive or race-blind) were completely crossed. The participating preservice teachers (African American and Caucasian) rated the consultants on measures of competence and multicultural sensitivity. A 2?×?2?×?2?×?2 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and subsequent univariate follow-up tests revealed a main effect for consultant behavior, favoring race-sensitive vs race-blind verbalizations for both dependent variables. Significant interactions were also found for each dependent variable for participant race?×?consultant behavior and consultant race?×?consultant behavior. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, and implications for practice and future research directions are identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavior consultation: A five-year evaluation of consultant and client outcomes.

Examined the effects of training in behavioral consultation (BEC) on school psychology graduate students and on client outcomes. 169 children (aged 3–11 yrs), 29 teachers/consultees, and 26 consultants participated. The consultants were comprised of 4 groups of graduate students and 1 no-training undergraduate control group. The procedure involved 3 phases of assessment: pre-training, competency-based training, and post-training. Training focused on the principles and mastery of applied behavioral therapy and BEC, relationship skills, and systems entry issues. The dependent variables included indices of mastery of the BEC process, knowledge and attitude toward behavior modification (BEM), consumer satisfaction, and treatment outcome. Each consultant achieved a predetermined minimum criterion of 80% of BEC interview objectives. Training resulted in large increases of BEM and no changes in attitude toward BEM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk perceptions and participation in colorectal cancer screening.

Interviewed 124 siblings (mean age 56.4 yrs) of high risk colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and 171 siblings (mean age 58.8 yrs) of average-risk CRC patients to examine the relationship of risk-factor perceptions to perceived susceptibility and participation in a CRC screening test. Results show minimal differences among siblings with respect to perceived susceptibility. Although high-risk siblings were more likely to participate in screening, only 20.2% cited heredity as a risk-increasing factor, and among these siblings, there was no relationship between screening participation and the citation of any specific risk factors, including heredity. Findings suggest that beliefs about risk-increasing factors may be more important determinants of behavior than beliefs about risk-decreasing factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' perceptions of control and preferences for consultative services.

Investigated the relationship between teacher feelings of control in dealing with common acting out, withdrawal, and academic types of student problems, and teachers' relative preference for consultation and referral services. 64 elementary school teachers responded to a modified Pupil Problem Behavioral Inventory. Higher feelings of control over student problems were significantly related to a preference for consultation rather than referral services. Results are consistent with prior research indicating that an internal locus of control is associated with increased efforts to obtain and utilize information. Implications for teacher use of and resistance to school-based consultative services are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consultants' perceptions of causality for success and failure of consultation.

Investigated the causal attribution made by consultants with regard to successful and unsuccessful consultation experiences. 164 school psychologists (mean age 32.1 yrs) were asked to consider their consultation experiences with teachers, select the most and least successful cases they could remember, and then state why they felt each case succeeded or failed. Consultants attributed both success and failure experiences more to characteristics of the consultee than to any other cause, with consultee characteristics considered a greater contributing factor to the failure rather than the success experiences. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-efficacy expectancies, outcome expectancies, and the persistence of pain control in childbirth.

Examined A. Bandura's (see record 1977-25733-001) self-efficacy theory of mastery behavior, which distinguishes self-efficacy expectancies (SEEs) from outcome expectancies (OEs), by the relative roles of SEEs, OEs, and importance as predictors of persistence of pain control in medication-free childbirth. 52 primiparous women made self-efficacy judgments before and during labor and then reported in postdelivery interviews the timing and amount of medication use during labor and delivery. SEEs predicted persistence in pain control without medication better than OEs, importance, and 7 other alternative predictors. These results support several aspects of construct validation to the SEE construct. However, SEEs and OEs were highly correlated and largely redundant in their correlations with mastery. Three possible reasons and implications for this lack of differentiation are discussed. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' and deaf students' perceptions of communication ease and engagement.

Collected ratings of communication ease and of engagement for 95 deaf junior and senior high school students (aged 12–21 yrs) in a large, urban, multiethnic school for the deaf. Ratings were made by the students' English teachers and by the students themselves. High teacher ratings for communication ease and engagement were associated with high academic achievement as measured by the Stanford Achievement Test. High student ratings for communication ease were also associated with academic achievement. The 2 best predictors of academic achievement were student-rated communication ease and teacher-rated engagement. Findings suggest that it is important for teachers to be sensitive to the level of communication comfort of their students because students who enjoy easier communication may be more likely to be engaged, or more actively involved, in classroom learning and to demonstrate higher academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher perceptions of consultation services provided by school psychologists.

Investigated the following questions: Do teachers prefer consultation or traditional testing services? Do teachers view the consultee role as one that is appropriate for their profession? Do consultation interactions result in increased professional skills for the consultee? 12 schools from a wide range of communities were provided with school psychology consultants for 14 wks. At the end of this time, teacher attitudes concerning the consultation process were assessed. Data analyses revealed that the 173 teachers reacted positively to the consultation services, placed a high priority on working along with school psychology consultants, and believed that their professional skills would improve as a function of consultation interactions. None of the results differed between schools as a function of gross demographic characteristics. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' perceptions of and reactions to misbehavior in traditional and open classrooms.

Compared teachers' disciplinary activities in traditional and open classrooms. Measures of teachers' discipline and criticism and children's misbehavior were derived from observations of 3 traditional and 3 open elementary school classrooms. The teachers' discipline and criticism scores were significantly higher (p     

Importance in instructional text: Teachers' and students' perceptions of task demands.

History teachers (N=22) and their 11th-grade students (N=451) rated the relative importance of sections of an instructional text on which teachers would be giving a test. Multilevel analysis revealed only a moderate correspondence between teachers in their importance ratings. This suggested that there were large differences between the task demands of individual teachers; therefore, students needed to attune to the demands their own teacher set. However, only a moderate correspondence was found between ratings of individual students and those of their teacher. Although this correspondence varied between teachers, between students, and between text sections, results suggest that in general, the participating students did not have a very clear or sound perception of task demands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonvolition, expectancies, and hypnotic rapport.

Prior to hypnosis, 49 Ss were informed either that hypnotizable Ss can resist motoric suggestions or that such control does not characterize good hypnotic Ss. During hypnosis, susceptible and simulating Ss (as determined by a 10-point version of the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility–Form A) received countersuggestions involving inhibiting suggestion-related movements. Susceptible Ss' responses were sensitive to prehypnotic normative information. There was a corresponding tendency for reports of involuntariness to be sensitive to the expectancy manipulation. Ss were able to feel deeply hypnotized and to rate themselves as good Ss yet concomitantly experience themselves as in control over their actions when normative information supported this attribution. Reports of suggestion-related sensations were associated with movements in response to countersuggestion. Simulators were unable to fake susceptibles' reports of sensations and involuntariness. However, for all Ss, movements paralleled expectancies about appropriate response, supporting the hypothesis that involuntary experiences are sensitive to the broad expectational context and are mediated by active cognitive processes. Rapport with the hypnotist was also a factor in resolving hypnotic conflict. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal-directed fantasy, hypnotic susceptibility, and expectancies.

We conducted an initial screening session in which hypnosis was presented as a "test of imagination" and administered with other imagination measures. In a 2nd session, we instructed high- and low-hypnotizable Ss to imagine along with suggestions but to resist responding to motoric suggestions. Ss received either instructions to use goal-directed fantasies (GDFs) or no facilitative instructions. Sizable individual difference effects were secured. Hypnotizable Ss exhibited more suggestion-related movements and reported greater involuntariness than did low-hypnotizable Ss. With GDF instructions, low- and high-hypnotizable Ss reported equivalent GDF absorption and frequencies. However, hypnotizable Ss exhibited greater responsiveness and reported greater involuntariness than did those low in hypnotizability, even when their GDFs were equivalent. Thus, no support was generated for the hypotheses that sustained, elaborated suggestion-related imagery mediates response to suggestion or that absorption in suggestions is of particular importance for low-hypnotizable Ss. Findings support the hypothesis that expectancies mediate the relation between imagination, involuntariness, and responding. Hypnotizable imagining Ss exhibited greater responsiveness than a comparable sample of Ss did in a previous countersuggestion study (Lynn, Nash, Rhue, Frauman, & Stanley, 1983). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of participation and control in the effects of computer monitoring on fairness perceptions, task satisfaction, and performance.

Procedural justice and social facilitation theories were used to investigate effects of 2 kinds of process control on fairness perceptions, task satisfaction and performance of complex, computer-monitored tasks. A laboratory study manipulated participation (high or low voice) and monitoring approach (monitoring, control over monitoring, or no monitoring). High-voice participants perceived higher justice. Monitored participants reported higher satisfaction with high voice and lower satisfaction with low voice. Task performance was poorer for monitored participants unless they had control over monitoring. Among those with control, performance was not impaired for higher baseline performers. The 2 kinds of process control had different effects on the outcome variables. Results suggest the value of considering variations in the kinds of control provided and the justice principles that may apply in predicting effects of monitoring procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived levels of self-disclosure, mental health, and helpfulness of group leaders.

Studied the relationship between therapist self-disclosure, mental health, and helpfulness as perceived by group members and determined if a member's perception of the group leader is a function of the member's own level of self-disclosure and mental health. Data were collected from 6 university encounter groups by using ranks for group member variables and rating scales for perceptions of group leaders. Perceptions of group leader self-disclosure, mental health, and helpfulness were all positively correlated. No differences occurred in the perceptions of group leaders as a result of the members' ranked levels of self-disclosure and mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A closer look at the relationship between justice perceptions and union participation.

In this study, a series of nested models was tested to assess the extent to which the relationship between process-related justice and union participation is mediated by perceived union support and union commitment. Members of a steelworkers' local (N=615) participated in the study. Fit indices most strongly supported a fully mediated model. Unlike previous research, process-related justice was operationalized as 2 distinct variables: procedural and interactional justice. Interactional justice was found to have a substantially stronger relationship with support perceptions than procedural justice. Results also indicated union support accounted for a greater amount of unique variance in union commitment than perceived union instrumentality. The results are discussed in relation to trust theory and the generalization of organization science across different types of organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol primes, expectancies, and the working self-concept.

Previous research has shown that alcohol consumption can lead to momentary changes in the self-concept (e.g., Steele & Josephs, 1990). In two studies (n = 150), we examined whether the implicit activation of alcohol expectancies (i.e., sociability-related expectancies) would also lead to changes in self-perception. To test this idea, participants first completed a measure of sociability-related alcohol expectancies. In a subsequent laboratory session, participants were exposed to either alcohol-related primes (i.e., pictures or words associated with alcohol) or neutral primes. After the priming task, participants completed an ostensibly unrelated self-concept survey that contained words related to sociability (e.g., “outgoing”) and nonsociability related words (e.g., “clever”). For both studies, results revealed that sociability-related alcohol expectancies were positively associated with sociability-related self-concept ratings for participants exposed to alcohol primes, but not for participants exposed to the neutral primes. Implications for the role implicit self-concept activation may have on drinking behaviors are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students: Effects of child age, gender, and ethnicity of teachers and children.

This study assessed the extent to which teachers' perceptions of their relationships with young students varied as a function of child and teacher characteristics in a large, demographically diverse sample of 197 preschool and kindergarten teachers and 840 children (mean age 4 yrs 7 mo old). Children were approximately evenly divided between boys and girls. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation between teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students and (a) teacher ethnicity, (b) child age, ethnicity, and gender, and (c) the ethnic match between teacher and child. Child age and ethnicity and teacher–child ethnic match were consistently related to teachers perceptions, explaining up to 27% of the variance in perceptions of negative aspects of the teacher–child relationship, specifically teacher–child conflict. When child and teacher had the same ethnicity, teachers rated their relationships with children more positively. The results are discussed in terms of classroom social processes related to children's adjustment and the measurement of teacher–child relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)